Spiteful Pleasure
by Kelly Christine
Summary: Kimball is a lonely slytherin, sick of being left out by her friends. She looks for someone to comfort her, and she finds none other than Draco Malfoy...
1. Chapter One: Homesick and Hopeful

**Spiteful Pleasure**   
Chapter One: Homesick and Hopeful

She looked out the window, staring thoughtlessly into the sky. The sky outside was cloudy and gray, much reminding her of her father's eyes. Oh how she missed him. She grew homesick fairly quickly, as she had only been on the train for a few hours, and already she felt like crying. What if something happened to her parents? The entire wizarding world knew that Voldemort was back again, and it was only a matter of time before he struck out. What if he had some grudges against her parents from when they were in school together? Her eyes became watery. She knew Voldemort and her father had been friends, perhaps Voldemort was angry at her father for not returning to him to follow him as a Death Eater? What was going to happen? The possibilities scared her significantly, and tears began to run down her face. She was staring out the window, helplessly crying, when the door to her train compartment slid open. She was no longer alone.   
  
"Hey Kimball-Oh what's wrong?" said one of her friends, a girl with strawberry blonde hair, and ocean blue eyes. The girl rushed to Kimball's side, hoping to cheer up her close friend.   
  
"Hi Collette," she said, furiously trying to dry her eyes and wipe away any evidence of tears, "Oh, you know how I get, I'm just homesick, I'm sure I'll get over it. I mean, I always do." said Kimball, with an air of confidence. But inside, she knew she wouldn't get over it. This year was different-all her past years going to Hogwarts, Voldemort had been nearly deceased. Voldemort was now back in power. However, Kimball was very good at faking confidence, as she had been on edge since Voldemort came back, nearly three months ago.   
  
"I'm sure you'll start feeling better once you get some food. I just love the food at Hogwarts-it's all tastes like it's from some nice restaurant. And the best part is-it's free!" stated Collette with a look of anxiousness on her face, as she hungrily awaited the feast.   
  
"Yep, the food sure is great." Kimball forced out. She wasn't into this conversation. The thought of Voldemort being back was still on her mind.   
  
"Well, I'll see you once we get there. Shouldn't be too long, only about fifteen minutes, I think." said Collette. With that, she gave Kimball a hug and walked out of the compartment, saying a quick "bye", and closed the door. Kimball could see out into the hallway. She watched as Collette met up with two of her other friends, a girl with brunette hair and equally brown eyes named Laurel, and a light-brown haired girl with the name of Tilly. Neither of the girls stopped in to say 'Hi' to Kimball, but she was okay with that. In fact, she was quite used to it now, as none of her friends had written to her over the summer, with the exception of Collette.   
  
_Tilly and Laurel, what a funny pair.Tilly is so eccentric, she doesn't care what anyone thinks of her. Maybe that's a good way to go. Laurel, gosh, could she spend any MORE time in front of the mirror? Seriously, spending all that time worrying about how she looks, when there is no time left for anyone to look at her, once she's finally left her reflection. Yet somehow, they are best friends. I just don't understand. Oh well.._   
  
Her thoughts drifted back to Voldemort and her parents, and her eyes became watery again. But her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the whistle of the train, the Hogwarts Express. _We must be at school, finally._ She thought to herself. She picked up her trunk and opened her compartment door. She exited the train and looked up at the castle. _It seems so much smaller than last year. Maybe I've just grown.._ she picked up her trunk and followed the rest of her classmates, almost in a day dream. _Maybe I'll make some new friends this year…or maybe my friends will start to notice me.._ She was very sick of being left out by her friends. She didn't even know why she called them her friends. They were in her house and in her year. But why did that automatically mean they were friends? _I need some guy friends.._ She laughed at the thought that came to her mind. What her friends called guys. _Slytherin frys.._ She didn't understand why they called them 'frys', maybe it was just a codename or something. No one had bothered to tell her.   
  



	2. Chapter Two: Friends and The Feast

**Spiteful Pleasure**   
Chapter Two: Friends and The Feast

She took a seat next to Collette, who was too busy talking to Laurel and Tilly to notice. Why doesn't anyone talk to me much? I REALLY need to find someone to talk to, someone who understands..   
  
Interrupting her train of thought was the sound of a spoon hitting an empty glass, and the voice of the Headmaster, Dumbledore, filled the Great Hall. "Let the Sorting Begin".   
  
With that, a group of scared looking first years walked into the Great Hall. In awe, they stumbled up to the front of the Hall, all gathering around an old hat, which was sitting on an equally old stool. Professor McGonagall held a roll of parchment and explained to the first years what would happen._ Same old story, same old song and dance.._ she thought of one of her favorite songs, which actually happened to be sung by a Muggle band. _If father knew I liked Muggle music…he'd have a fit.._   
  
She watched as the first years all went to sit at the tables of the houses they were sorted into. She watched as a scrawny little boy tripped making his way over to the Hufflepuff house table. A few laughs were emitted around her. She felt bad for the boy, he looked like he had almost been starved. _Hopefully we'll get to eat soon, this boy needs all the food he can get._   
  
"LOUIS ZABINI" she heard McGonagall shout over the rumbling of her stomach. She was hungry, too. _A 'Z' name, this must be it. _She thought to herself as the boy came running over to her own table, the Slytherin table.   
  
Dumbledore, the Headmaster of her school, stood up and said "let the feast begin" and with that, the anxiously awaited food covered the tables, and the entire school started eating. Hungrily, she picked up a roll and began to eat it. She saw her friend Collette grabbing huge portions which she knew her friend could never finish in one sitting. _Oh well, it's free.._ She finished the roll and then spooned some spaghetti onto her plate. She ate as cleanly as possible, which wasn't too clean, considering she was eating spaghetti with marinara sauce. She made sure to wipe her face with her napkin after every bite, because she was sure there was sauce somewhere on her face.   
  
_Hmm..I wonder who I could become friends with..there's really no one else in our year, besides the boys, but they'd never go for me. Not me, when they have Laurel and Collette._ She didn't think of Tilly because she knew Tilly didn't notice things such as a boy's interest. She was always too busy just trying to enjoy herself.   
  
Eyeing the boys in her year, she thought to herself. _Hmm, those two, I'd never even think about being friends with them, they wouldn't be interesting enough._ She was looking at Crabbe and Goyle. _Draco, now he's cute, but he's got a million girls after him, he'd never think about even being friends with me. She looked down near Crabbe, Goyle, and Draco and couldn't find any other Sixth Year boys. Hmm, where are the rest of them? Oh well, I doubt they'd ever even consider being friends with me. _   
  
She finished eating at about the same time as most of the students. Dumbledore made a few announcements, but Kimball didn't pay attention. She was full and tired from the long train ride._ I just want to get back to the commonroom and get some rest.._ she thought.   
  
She saw the rest of the students get up in unison and she shot up to her feet, climbing out of her seat and into the stream of students heading out of the Great Hall and toward their commonrooms. She mindlessly walked to the Slytherin commonroom, accompanied by overwhelming chatter of the returning students. One of the prefects said the password and they went into the commonroom. She hadn't payed attention to hear it. _Oh well, I'll catch it later._ She couldn't concentrate on anything.   
  
She walked into the commonroom and sat by the fire for a few minutes, pretending to listen to her friends Collette, Tilly, and Laurel talk about what they did over the summer. _I really don't care about Laurel's trip to Paris, damnit._ I want to go to sleep. And with that thought, her feet followed suit. She walked up to her dormitory and no one seemed to notice. She got herself ready and climbed into bed. She fell asleep quickly, not at all anxious for the next day's classes. 


	3. Chapter Three: An Interesting Conversati...

**Spiteful Pleasure**   
Chapter Three: An Interesting Conversation

She awoke the next morning and saw a single ray of sunlight spilling in through the window. _I wonder what time it is.._she thought and looked over at her wristwatch, which was lying on her nightstand. She picked it up and stared at its hands, not comprehending what she saw. It was much too early to be thinking. She rubbed her eyes and looked at it again. _Six thirty..I have an hour before breakfast..hmm..well I'm not tired enough to fall asleep again.._ She looked around at her fellow Slytherin Sixth Year roomates. She saw her three 'friends', Collette, Laurel, and Tilly, all sound asleep. In the corner bed, she saw Pansy Parkinson, looking lost in a dream, as her mouth was wide open. _Atleast I made friends with the RIGHT people in my year.._ She got dressed quickly and headed down to the commonroom.   
  
She almost stumbled down the stairs, but she caught herself by grabbing a hold of the wall just before she knew she would have fallen. _I really need to pay attention to those steps.._ She emerged into the common room and looked around. She loved the familiarity of this room, it was her home-away-from-home. She had spent numerous hours there with her 'friends' in the past five years. The moments she had enjoyed there, they were very fond to her. But something was different this year, something she didn't quite understand.. She looked around, trying to figure out if she was alone or not. She sat down into a chair in the back of the common room, away from anyone who might possibly be there. _I wonder what classes I have today.._ She took out her schedule and glanced down. _ Double Divination? That's going to be positively horrible. _   
  
Glancing over her schedule, she heard a sound. It sounded like a chair, swivelling around its base. She looked up, and there was Draco Malfoy, staring right back at her. _Draco..what is he doing here? Oh well, best to make conversation.._ "Hi, Draco. Kind of early, don't you think?" she said hopefully, hoping he wouldn't take this as anything more than normal conversation.   
  
"Hey Kimball..oh I don't think it's that early, I'm usually down here at this time anyways. What made you get up early today? You're not usually here at this time.." He said and then grinned, looking at her. _I wonder what Draco does, getting up so early, EVERY morning?_   
  
"Oh, I just couldn't sleep." She stared at the ground, not knowing what to say next. But Draco helped her out with that.   
  
"I'm sorry to hear that. I never sleep past six o'clock, my father never allowed me to. He always said sleeping was a waste of time." he told her. She was somewhat surprised by this. _Draco's father doesn't let him sleep late..ever?_   
  
"Oh, that must be kind of awful, sometimes I just love to sleep late." she thought of the numerous times over the summer on which she had slept almost until lunch. She knew she would miss those times in a very short while.   
  
"Well, I can't miss that which I don't know." he stated. _Wow, Draco is smarter than he looks, I must say._   
  
"Very true." she stopped talking for a few moments, not sure of what to say. "So...do anything interesting over the summer?" _Am I actually having a normal conversation with Draco? This is a first.._   
  
"Not really, we never usually go anywhere for vacation. My father is very busy, work is just so hectic for him. I spent a large amount of my time with my mother." he said, not even thinking about what Kimball was thinking.   
  
"Oh, well maybe you'll have some fun at school this year." _What am I saying? I don't know. Just look cool. _ She smiled at him, hoping he'd catch her. Which he did.   
  
"School isn't too much fun. In fact, it's rather a bore. But with scarhead here, now, THAT is fun.." he trailed off, obviously remembering earlier times in which he'd had fun making fun of Potter.   
  
"Oh, I must admit, listening to you go on about Potter sure is fun." she let out a giggle. "So, do you know when the first quidditch game is?" she tried making conversation again.   
  
"It's not for a while, we haven't even begun practice yet. I mean, today IS the first day of school.." Draco said. She looked somewhat embarrased, realising her mistake.   
  
"Oh yes, I just figured perhaps you had gotten a quidditch schedule with your class schedule." She tried to make herself seem less stupid.   
  
"Well, you are right, because usually we do, but I think that Dumbledore's grown to old to keep himself organized. Bloody school.." he muttered the end to himself.   
  
She laughed and said "Well, when you get a schedule, let me know. But now, I think I'm going to go get some breakfast." she got up as if to leave.   
  
"Oh, I'll let you know. But don't go just yet, I don't think it's time for breakfast yet, barely anyone is even awake." Both of them glanced around the nearly empty commonroom, and saw only a few others.   
  
"Oh, I think I'm just hungry. I didn't have much dinner.." she trailed off. _He doesn't care what I had for dinner..I wonder why he's even talking to me.._   
  
"Well, breakfast will be soon enough.." he seemed to want to tell her something, but then thought the better of it. "I think I'm going to go freshen up a bit, I'll see you at breakfast." He got up and headed up the stairs through which Kimball herself had almost tripped.   
  
_Wow, I haven't even been here for twenty-four hours, and already this year is pretty different. My friends aren't talking to me, but Draco is..how interesting._ She kept on that train of thought as she watched the commonroom fill up, and then she met up with her friends, who were leaving for breakfast. She followed them out of the commonroom and up to the Great Hall. 


	4. Chapter Four: Breakfast With Company

**Spiteful Pleasure**   
Chapter Four: Breakfast With Company

She walked into the Great Hall, slightly ahead of Collette, Laurel, and Tilly, who were discussing their schedules, also very displeased with the Double Divinations they'd have to attend later that day. She sat down next to Tilly, who was playing with her hair, which was in two long braids. Tilly whispered to Kimball, while Collette and Laurel were busy talking. "Where were you this morning? I got up at about 6:45 and I noticed you were gone. Is everything okay?"   
  
"Oh, yeah, I just couldn't sleep. I went down to the commonroom and just talked with Draco. I was surprised, he was up that early, too." she explained. _Maybe Tilly will understand how strange this all is._   
  
"Draco? Oh yeah, I remember one time last year I woke up early because I had to finish an assignment, and he was there, too. He didn't talk to me much. Just asked me what I was doing. I wondered why he was there that early. Maybe he's up early a lot then." Tilly looked confused, but dropped the idea and was quickly dragged into the conversation with Laurel and Collette.   
  
_Hmm, I wonder why Draco talked to me, and not to Tilly? Maybe he just didn't want to disturb her. Oh, there's Draco now._ She glanced up, seeing Draco walk in the door to the Great Hall, accompanied by Crabbe and Goyle. The three of them walked over to the Slytherin table. _He looks like he's going to sit right by me. That'd be nice. I think I've always secretly liked him.._ The ideas grew in her head. To her surprise, Draco say down right next to Kimball, Crabbe and Goyle across the table, with Crabbe next to Collette, much to her dissatisfaction.   
  
She struggled to get the words out of her mouth. "Hi Draco." _Was she falling for him? This was all too fast. But he could've sat ANYWHERE, but he CHOSE to sat next to her.._ She smiled at him, waiting for any sort of response.   
  
"Hey Kimball," he said cooly. "Did you see our schedule? Double Divination today. What do you think?" he finished. _He's actually making conversation with ME? Must be pretty desperate. _But she didn't mind. She smiled again, feeling her face turn red.   
  
"Oh, I know, well atleast we'll get it over with and we wont have to have it as often." it was the best she could come up with.   
  
"Good thinking." He said as he took some bacon. _Did he just compliment her? This must be a first._ She was surrounded by hopeful thoughts about getting to know Draco. She helped herself to some pancakes.   
  
He bit into his bacon and then stared at his plate, thoughtfully. _I wonder what he's thinking about..I hope he tells me. _ She was very curious. She really wanted to ask him. She couldn't contain herself. "Something wrong, Draco? You look deep in thought." she blurted out. _What if he didn't want to be disturbed? Uh oh._   
  
He snapped out of his trance. "W-Well to tell you the truth, I was debating about asking to walk you to your first class." He turned slightly red. _Draco was nervous to ask me that? When had he ever felt nervous around me? When someone is nervous it usually is because they like the other person..could it be?_   
  
"Draco...I'd love that." She smiled at him. _This year SURE is different._ "Well, let me finish and we can get going, it's about time for us to leave." She finished the last sip of her apple juice and got up. She waited for Draco and started walking out of the Great Hall. As they had reached the door, Draco took hold of her hand. 


End file.
